Barnet 5 Morecambe 1

Last updated : 04 September 2004 By Footymad Previewer

Five-star Barnet ran riot against ten-man Morecambe in a dramatic encounter Underhill.

The Bees started at place and Morecambe found themselves with backs against the wall. Giuliano Grazioli's header on four minutes was well saved by Adam Sollitt.

The Shrimps however could have stolen the lead when Chris Blackburn got on the end of Kieron Walmsley free-kick, but his header from only six yards went straight at Ricky Millard.

The visitors were then forced to defend for long periods with Grazioli and Liam Hatch proving to be a persistent threat in attack.

Grazioli thought he given the Bees the lead after 22 minutes when his overhead kick looped over the head of Sollitt, but an acrobatic goal-line clearance from Michael Twiss kept the scores level.

As the temperature on the pitch rose, so too did the tempers. Referee Yerby started to lose his common sense and issued yellow cards for fairly innocent challenges.

The Shrimps were then dealt a tougher task of maintaining a clean sheet when Walmsley received a second yellow card.

After the restart it was the visitors were quicker out of the blocks and despite being under pressure for much of the first half they actually took the lead.

Terry McFlynn's beautiful piece of individual skill put them one up in the 59th minute. He flicked the ball over Simon Clist's head before calmley slotting the ball past Millard much to the delight of the 64 travelling fans.

Morecambe's goal ignited the hosts.

Simon King scored his first goal for the club two minutes after McFlynn's strike.

Captain Ian Hendon then gave the Bees the lead from the penalty spot. His powerful drive was thumped straight down middle of the goal after Grazioli had won the kick after being hacked down by Sollitt.

Grazioli added two more for his fifth and sixth goals of the season. His first on 73 minutes was a diving header at the far post after Hatch supplied the pass.

His second three minutes later was clinical. He produced a neat flick and dinked the ball over Sollitt before tapping the ball into the empty net.

Substitute Nick Bailey completed the scoring in the 90th minute as the Morecambe defence finally ran out of steam.